Posted on 02/11/2005 10:55:36 AM PST by Jim Robinson
The shot heard around the Internet has been fired on FreeRepublic.com The owner Jim Robinson and his moderators have launched a sniper style purge against members that disagree with the President’s ‘guest worker’ amnesty or support more control of illegal immigration. Free Republic is an amazing tool for those looking for a good debate and news from around the country.
The problem for the administration of the site is that their creation is allowing the participants to learn that the Bush immigration record and plans are shockingly out of line with the views of most conservatives. The management’s answer to this conflict between the majority of conservatives and the influence of the White House on their Web site has become electronic executions and censorship.
Members and readers of Free Republic would be surprised to know that many members of their community have fallen silent on the discussions about illegal immigration lately because free speech is an illusion on FR.com. They are silent because they have been banned from the Web site without warning, cause, or explanation in most cases. For weeks the moderators have been suspending and banning new members that chimed in quickly on the immigration debates.
Now this trend has broadened as the first groups of long-term users were suspended or banned this past week. Although Robinson and his staff removed many members of the Free Republic community in the first few days of the purge, those that religiously support President Bush’s immigration plan, open borders and approve of public benefits for illegal aliens remain on the forum. Those that were banned were the members that wanted more done to control illegal immigration and a strict observance to the President’s Oath of Office.
Who wrote this tripe? And why?
"Bible-thumping, NRA membership owning, middle-aged, right-wing extremist males the left stereotypes us as."
Hey, what's wrong with being a Bible-thumping, NRA membership owning, middle-aged, right-wing extremist?
;^)
But point taken.
Your site, your rules. Thanks from a newbie freeper who wants tighter border control and thought that it would happen soon after the election.(How naive of me.) Keep up the good work.
Doesn't this sound like Murph1? Or what ever his name was that was on the Teterboro thread?
My, we are popular aren't we? I haven't seen much deletion of posts that didn't well deserve to be deleted. With all the crap we get from the DUmmy trolls I think the mods and Jim do a splendid job of separating those who want genuine discussion from the stir-up-stink variety who often post and run. If a poster is deleted by mis-judgement of their intentions, they could create another screen name and take another approach to communicating their point of view if they genuinely want discourse and aren't here to just cause trouble.
It doesn't seem that the author of this piece knows much about FR. Otherwise he'd be aware of these happenings and take them into consideration. As is, he seems to have ingested a lot of sour grapes along the line. For reasons that are interesting to speculate..
Prairie
Looks like the enemy is coming from all angles. This one is the 'how about you and him fight and I watch' perspective.
Thanks Jim. Those who will excel become a target for those who will not. Kudos for your honorable administration.
The italicized is not my opinion...
Members and readers of Free Republic would be surprised to know that many members of their community have fallen silent on the discussions about illegal immigration lately because free speech is an illusion on FR.com.
I don't like wading through bits and bits of continued sophomoric statements made by armchair enforcement officers and policy makers.
How much time have any of you spent in a Federal building lately?
The Korean shop keepers were not practicing vigilantism. They were not roaming the streets or conducting rogue justice. They simply protected the own property from attack, from native-born Americans, not illegals, whose ancestry likely goes back further than yours or mine. That is perfectly legal under the law.
Agreed.
Thanks Jim!
Rense is disingenuous and cynical. I doubt he believes 99% of the stuff he posts on his website, where he plasters disclaimers all over the place. He's also a total anti-Bush nut - speculating, Rense is afraid of Bush because he thinks the president may support censoring flaky sites like his.
Well, Wm. Ghreen of The Conservative Voice, you've been debunked by number one here, so, that's that. You stand corrected. C'ya on down the road! Next troll case!
Uh, if there were were 1,000,000 coming every day, the population of the U.S. would double in 10 months -- except that Mexico would be completely empty in less than 4 months.
Does Green have an agenda against F.R.?
Well put.
I have never viewed this as a "Free Speech" site...I have inadvertently crossed the line and said things have been chastised or had my comments deleted due to the inflammatory nature of them. (Note I said inadvertently-I am not proud of this!)
I view myself as a guest here, and I understand what the moderators are trying to do and why they do it. They are not trying to quash free speech, they are simply trying to maintain order and keep things civil and above the board.
There are rules, and the moderators know when someone is simply trying to have a discussion, or when they are simply trolling. I think they do a fine job keeping things in line.
If Jim or the appointed moderators don't like what I say, they usually have valid reasons for that, but...I understand...there is NO FREE SPEECH HERE! Jim pays for this site. As Mr. K said...YOU CAN DO AS YOU DARN WELL PLEASE!!
Yeah.
Same guy signed up twice today to try and post an article from AliPAC.
And he got zotted both times.
I haven't been following the discussion of immigration issues at FR closely. I'm definitely a proponent of tighter immigration controls, and probably an opponent of President Bush's guest worker program.
That said, I can well understand why Jim would not want FR to be associated with vigilantism. So, beyond the obvious point that he has every right to permit or deny whatever he wishes on his own site, I understand and approve of his policy in that regard.
And then there are the few freepers who are kept around because they are such easy targets and provide so much entertainment.
I'm wrong again?
I'm going to slink out into the garden and eat worms now. Excuse me...
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